Keith Urban Calls Attention to Pancreatic Cancer in New PSA

Keith Urban is adding his voice to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer.

November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month, and Urban is out to change the fact that it doesn't currently have the same level of awareness as other diseases. In a new PSA recorded for the Nikki Mitchell Foundation, the country singer talks about the devastating effects of the disease and urges others to get involved in finding a cure.

“There is no early detection. No one talks about pancreatic cancer because currently, it’s a death sentence,” Urban says. “So, please, join the music community, and help us find a cure.”

And Urban's not the only one who's lending his voice to raise awareness. The country singer and 'American Idol' judge is also joined in the campaign by Jerrod Niemann, Jamey Johnson, Shooter Jennings, Jessi Colter and many others who have all spoken out in support of the Nikki Mitchell Foundation.

Nikki Mitchell -- a longtime friend and manager of country great Waylon Jennings -- died of pancreatic cancer in 2013. Over the course of her life, Mitchell was instrumental in the lives of many musicians, and it is because of her lasting legacy that many stars like Urban are speaking up about the disease.

"Before her death, Nikki challenged her friends in the music community to shine a light on the need for research." Urban says in the video, with additional text on the screen adding that 73 percent of people who are diagnosed with the illness die within one year.

Pancreatic cancer has also claimed the lives of country musicians Ray Price and Hank Cochran, and although it is predicted that it will be the second-deadliest cancer by 2020, only 2 percent of the National Cancer Institute's annual budget goes to fighting it.